Dragon Ball: Another World
by TaigaaGina
Summary: AU. After Nappa's death Vegeta, Tarble and Trunks are the only Saiyans left. Enraged, Vegeta decides to find whoever killed his subordinate, while Tarble is wondering why the Saiyans seem to die one after another. Pairings inside but WILL BE YAOI!
1. Destiny

**Author's Notes:** While waiting for Raging Blast 2 to come out (in which you can play with Tarble!) I decided to try and write a DBZ-fanfic. All the chapter titles will be taken from the Dragon Ball Kai soundtracks and song collections and are actually soundtracks for the chapters. You can listen to them at Youtube. Also, I'm using the same name-romanisation as the Finnish Sangatsu Manga, since I'm more familiar with that.

**Pairings and warnings: **Eventually Goku/Vegeta, Gohan/Tarble, 18/Kuririn and maybe others. Past Vegeta/Bulma and Goku/Chichi, as well as heavy Vegeta-abuse and crude language.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit fanfiction. Dragon Ball belongs to Toriyama Akira.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 1 - Destiny**

"I can't allow that."

Vegeta felt the tail tighten around his waist. He clenched the fists behind his back to keep himself from lashing out, "I'm sorry?"

"I said, I can't allow that," the creature sitting on the throne repeated, "Or rather, I _won't _allow that."

"Sir," Vegeta kept his gaze somewhere slightly above the throne, "With all due respect, these are _my_ men we're talking about."

"And?" he could feel the crimson eyes on him, "Are you, perchance, implying that a couple of monkeys are unable to take care of themselves."

"That's not what I'm saying," Vegeta snarled quietly, "I'm just pointing out that it's taking far too long for them, considering their mission was only to scout out the sector. If something has happened, it is my duty to punish whoever it is that has insulted our race so," he finally let himself meet the other's gaze, "And if it so happens that they've just been lazing out, then it is also my duty to punish _them_ for insulting our race."

The look on Freeza's face was mildly bored. He kept scanning the Saiyan up and down in a way that always made Vegeta slightly nervous, "I still won't allow it. The Tritekians are putting up a tougher battle than I expected. I'm going to need you here leading the Second Fleet, not meandering somewhere after two lost monkeys."

"Sir," Vegeta began again, gritting his teeth, "We have already conquered most of the planet, I'm sure you could get someone to replace me for the rest," the tail was gripping his waist like a steel vise, "If something has happened to my men, I think it would be wise to find out what, in case it's something that could be considered a threat to the Empire."

"My dear Vegeta," Freeza laughed, "Do you really think there'd be anything, _anywhere,_ in this universe that I couldn't handle?"

_You bastard,_ "No, sir," he gritted out.

"Then I guess this discussion is over," Freeza lifted his hand and signalled for one of his personal servants to escort the Saiyan out, "And don't worry about your boys. I'm sure we'll hear of them sooner or later."

Vegeta tilted his head in a manner that could _almost _be considered a bow and marched out of the double doors before Freeza's servant could even reach him. He released the tail from his waist and let it smack right across the chest of a passing guard, sending the poor man crashing to the hallway wall. That wasn't nearly enough to soothe his anger.

He stormed forward, tail swishing left and right, not caring who or what it might hit. Most people were aware of his sour moods and kept their distance, knowing better than to cross paths with the Saiyan prince whenever he came from the direction of Lord Freeza's chambers.

Once Vegeta entered the training facilities, he let his anger blaze. He kicked the door open, ignoring the two pairs of startled eyes that landed on him. He marched to the nearest metal target and punched it with all his might, shattering it and sending the pieces flying all around the room.

"It didn't go well?" Vegeta heard a voice ask tentatively. He glared at his brother, getting even more annoyed as the younger one flinched. Tarble was still too weak if he couldn't even stand up to his own brother!

"Are you going to leave?" smaller voice piped up.

"No," Vegeta looked at his son, "Apparently, I'm needed on Tritek."

"But," Tarble voiced, "There's only a small faction left. The planet's basically ours."

"I know!" Vegeta roared, "It's the stupidest excuse that freak's come up with to not let me out of this fucking ship!" his mind flashed back to the smug look on the emperor's face, "DAMMIT!" he smashed another target with an energy blast, "That fucker! Keeping me caged like this!

Tarble stepped back as his brother started demolishing the room. Next to him Trunks, his nephew, looked excited, soon joining his father in blasting targets and tearing off panels, just for the sheer fun of it. Tarble tried to keep out of the way as best as possible, not sharing quite as big a lust for destruction as the other Saiyans did, "Had enough?" he asked once his two relatives stopped their havocking.

"No," Vegeta growled. It wasn't enough. Would never be enough. Not until he ripped that... _thing's _head off with his own hands!

"What did he say?"

"That the stupid monkeys can take care of themselves and even if they couldn't, _he_ could take care of whatever it is that they might've encountered."

"But this is Nappa and Raditz we're talking about," Tarble began, flinching slightly as Trunks began playing with his tail, "They're not the _strongest_ we have, but still powerful enough that not just anyone could defeat them. Shouldn't Freeza be more worried?"

"Well, apparently he isn't," Vegeta growled, "The bastard's getting overconfident since there's no-one to challenge him."

"That might not be wise on the long run," Tarble commented, swishing his tail around, watching as Trunks kept jumping after it."

"Not that it matters," Vegeta smirked evilly, "Let the fucker keep thinking he's unstoppable and when the time comes, I'll rip out that disgusting heart of his and feast on his intestines."

"Just promise to keep it down for now," Tarble warned, "At the moment we wouldn't stand a chance. Not as long as Zarbon, Dodoria and the Ginyuu Force are here."

"I know," Vegeta rubbed his left side absent-mindedly, "I need more power. If I could ascend I..."

Tarble looked away as his brother sank into his own world, dark eyes going dull and hand sliding over the hidden scars. He felt uncharacteristic hatred towards the creature that kept humiliating his brother like that, kept them all locked up in the hulking metal ship. Tarble swore he could feel an invisible collar tightening around his throat every time the emperor gave a command.

Still, it was nothing compared to the many shackles chaining down his brother.

-x-x-x-

Vegeta was the first one on the landing bridge. He had ran there as soon as he heard the signal of Nappa's space pod returning. He pushed violently through the mechanics, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the pod's door to open.

"Oh for the...!" he pulled a hidden lever that opened the door from the outside and leaned in, "You better have a damn good explanation, you lazy-!"

It had been a while since he had seen so much blood in such a cramped space.

Nappa's eyes seemed to stare straight at him, dried-up blood staining the bald warrior's chin and stomach. Majority of it had come from the huge hole in the man's chest, smell of burned skin, bone and organs still lingering in the air. Vegeta could faintly hear voices around him as the mechanics were screaming for help.

Before straightening up Vegeta pressed a button, pulling out a small chip and hiding it in his palm. He walked past the panicking mechanics, watching as a group of paramedics hurried towards the pod, "Too late, quacks," he informed them and hurried his steps towards the Saiyans' living quarters.

-x-x-x-

Tarble and Trunks were pulled out of their napping when Vegeta slammed the door shut. He threw the chip at his brother, who caught it in surprise, "Find out where that idiot's been."

"Wha-?"

"Nappa's back."

Tarble's face lifted and he smiled, standing up "Then..."

"He's dead."

Vegeta growled at the disbelief on his brother's face. Trunks stared at them, not really understanding what was going on. Vegeta stalked to the small table at the corner of the room, kicking the only chair they had and smashing it to pieces. He let out an angry howl and started beating the table, finally lifting it up and throwing it against the wall, "FUCKING IDIOT!"

"What about Raditz?" Tarble dared to ask.

"I don't know!" Vegeta howled, "But I guess it's safe to assume that he's dead, too! Those fucking idiots! What the fuck were they doing!"

Tarble stayed silent as the thought that had most likely enraged his brother sank in. The three of them were the only ones left. They were the last Saiyans. Tarble could feel a heavy lump rising to his throat as his brother seemingly calmed down, turning slowly to look at the younger prince.

"Why?" he asked, "Why didn't you make your choice while one of them was still alive?"

Tarble couldn't meet his brother's accusing eyes. He didn't really know. He had just thought that he could have some more time, that putting it off for a little while wouldn't hurt anyone, "I'm sorry..."

"We could have a female now," Vegeta muttered, "If only you had agreed to be claimed!"

"I know," Tarble gulped, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't make it any better!" Vegeta lost his temper, "We're dying, Tarble! Can't you understand that! You're a Herma! You were our only hope!"

"I know..." Tarble fell to his knees as his brother kept growling at him, his tail curling around his leg in submission, "I just..."

"You just what! Thought you could avoid it! You can't, Tarble! None of us can! You thought you could run away from it, didn't you!" Vegeta lifted his hand, ready to strike.

Tarble closed his eyes, awaiting the pain. When nothing happened he dared to open them, seeing his brother turning his back at him, "Brother?"

"You know I can't hurt you," Vegeta muttered, shoulders slumping "And I know we couldn't foresee this, it's just..." he rubbed his left side and Tarble felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

"No, you're right. I did keep putting it off. I kept hoping that maybe... just maybe we could find another female or maybe more of those who survived... like Tales..." he quickly closed his mouth as Vegeta turned around to glare at him.

"Don't say that traitor's name!"

"I... I'm sorry..."

Vegeta sighed and slumped against the wall. He slid down to the floor and rubbed his forehead, "Dammit! What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Trunks, who had kept quivering in the corner during his father's raving, finally dared to move. He crawled next to his uncle, silently asking if the man was alright. Tarble smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. The half-blood might now be their only hope, "We still have Trunks", he said.

"You know the gene only passes down through females," Vegeta muttered, suddenly looking very tired, "And even if he would claim you when he comes of age, it wouldn't be wise. We're all too close of blood."

"But he could mate with an outsider. Like you did," Tarble tried, "And maybe... well, I could, too."

"It wouldn't be pure..."

Tarble sighed. If only his brother wasn't so obsessed with having a pure-blood child, "Then... what can we do?"

"I don't know," Vegeta admitted silently, "I just don't know."

-x-x-x-

"You want to bury that clansman of yours?" Freeza asked.

"Yes," Vegeta pulled his shirt back on and kneeled down to pick his discarded boots, "He was loyal, always followed orders. I feel like I owe him that much."

"Hmph," the emperor sniffed, "Floating through space like the rest of the vermin is good enough for him."

Vegeta pretended he didn't hear the comment and instead concentrated on putting his armor back on, "Maybe, but dismissing a warrior's soul like that might have negative repercussions."

Freeza let out a laugh, "Didn't know you monkeys were so religious."

Vegeta didn't look at the emperor, "Enough that it could affect our performance."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, sir."

Vegeta froze as he felt cold fingers stroking his tail. He fought the reflex to pull away and wrap the appendage around his waist. Freeza continued toying with it for a while, enjoying his subordinate's squirming. Finally he let go and smirked as Vegeta almost instantly wrapped the silky tail around his waist.

"Five days," the emperor allowed.

"Thank you, sir."

-x-x-x-

Vegeta watched as the scavengers ripped Nappa's body apart. The talk about vengeful souls and proper burials had been complete bullshit. Like Saiyans would care about something like that. When you were dead, you were dead, simple as that. Vegeta remembered hearing that some Saiyans had even devoured the corpses of their fallen comrades. Once the body stopped moving, it was worth nothing.

Turning his back at the feast of the beasts of the closest planet he had found that had a tolerable oxygen level, he opened the small device Tarble had given him. Recorded in it was the location of the last planet Nappa had landed on. Vegeta pressed few buttons to re-program his space pod's course and glanced one last time at his long time comrade's body.

"Thanks for giving me a proper cover, Nappa," he muttered, "At least you accomplished that much."

Standing up, he returned to his pod and prepared it for lift-off. He had four days left.

-x-x-x-

Tarble sniffed the air and checked his scouter. No high power levels, no scent of mechanics. He walked silently across the landing bridge and towards the pod Nappa had returned in. He pressed a button, cringing as the door let out a loud hiss before opening, and climbed inside.

Once seated properly Tarble pulled out a hand-console, swallowing a feeling of longing at the memories the small device brought out. Memories of nimble fingers dancing across the keys, of slight figure excitedly hunched over whatever invention she had been working on at the moment, of smiling face and eyes that held compassion but also strength to stand up against the ever-present wrath of his brother.

Gods, he missed Bulma so much.

The woman of unknown race had been his only real friend in the small group of outcasts that the Saiyans had formed. Not of Saiyan race, Bulma hadn't shared their thirst for fights and conflict, but she had been stubborn and confident enough not to be intimidated by the violence and crudeness around her. If she had had more blood-lust, she could've passed as a Saiyan female.

Tarble remembered when Bulma had been forced on them. Kiwi had opened the door to the Saiyans' living quarters and thrown the spitting and screaming woman on the floor announcing that as of that day, she would be their problem. Vegeta had been more than ready to rip both the woman and Kiwi to pieces but the others had been able to stop him. Bulma had crawled to the corner of the room and kept screaming at them until Vegeta had hit her. Hard.

Once she had gotten back on her feet, she had grabbed the only chair in the room and smashed it over Vegeta's head. The struggle that ensued after that had been something none of them would ever forget. Although the strange alien woman had obviously been weaker, she had kept attacking the prince with the remains of the chair, until Vegeta had finally ordered them to just "Fucking take that thing away from her!"

Nappa and Raditz had seized the woman, as Tales just kept laughing and Tarble tried to calm his brother. Still, the prince hadn't been satisfied until he had smacked the woman around some more and ordered the other Saiyans to leave her at the corner and let her starve to death. While everyone had returned to their own businesses Bulma had kept glaring at them, tentatively rubbing the various bruises now marring her body.

Two days had went by. The only contact they'd made with the woman was when Vegeta had been to Freeza's. In the middle of one of their meals, Tales had pointed to the door at the corner and silently told that it lead to the shower and bathroom. Bulma had gotten up and hurried pass the men, glaring at them when Raditz informed her that there was no lock in the door. Nappa hadn't been happy with the younger warriors, but Tales had only said that he didn't want to have to smell the alien woman's wastes.

One night (or more like a time when the ship's power was cut to save energy) Tarble had gotten up from his mattress and tip-toed over to Bulma, silently placing his blanket over her shivering shoulders. The Saiyans all lived in a 4x6m room with one table and a small bathroom, sleeping on the floor on thin mattresses and with moth-eaten blankets. The metal floor was cold and when the power was cut off, it got almost freezing. When Tarble had returned to his place next to his brother, Vegeta had glared at him but surprisingly hadn't said anything.

It hadn't been the first time the so-called troublesome people had been forced on them. Usually Vegeta just ordered them all to ignore the poor creatures until they were either taken away or dead. That was why, when the sixth day had come, everyone were surprised when Vegeta had gotten up, handing some food to the woman and telling her to eat. Instead of thanking him, Bulma had glared at him and grabbed the food while making sure to 'accidentally' scratch the prince with her long fingernails.

And that was how the alien woman had been accepted to their clan.

Bulma had told Tarble (who was the only one curious enough to hear what she was and where she was from) that she came from a planet called Earth, a place that none of the Saiyans had ever heard of. After her parents had died in an accident, she had volunteered for a space-program to test the new rocket said to be able to take a person all the way to Pluto (another place none of them had ever heard of) in a matter of hours. However, something had gone wrong and she had found herself drifting through space, unable to control the rocket or even contact her home planet.

She wasn't sure how long she had drifted, but suddenly a huge ship had appeared in front of her. She had been picked up and almost instantly forced to one of the small rooms full of creatures she had never seen. At that point she had blown her top and demanded to get back home. After screaming and beating people around her with various objects, she had been dragged off by a purple man (Kiwi, Tarble told her) and thrown into the Saiyans' room.

It didn't take long for the men to notice how good Bulma was with machines. It was almost scary how quickly she was able to understand electronic devices she had never seen in her life. Bulma even modified their old, out-of-date scouters and was even allowed to the landing bridge to work with other mechanics. Vegeta had been happy that his decision to allow the woman into his clan had paid off, not to mention Bulma could also keep Tarble company while the others were on a mission.

Time had passed and surprisingly Bulma and Vegeta had grown closer, until one day Trunks was born. Tarble remembered how anxiously everyone had acted during the pregnancy and the labour. He himself had never seen a Saiyan child, being still a baby himself when planet Vegeta had blown up. Bulma had laughed at how the men seemed to walk on eggshells around her, even more so after the baby had been born.

Tarble smiled at the warm memories. They had actually been happy then. Even his brother's scars didn't seem to bother him as much after Bulma had joined them. Then everything had just...

Tarble shook his head. He wanted to remember the happy times, not the tragedy that had followed not long after. He attached Bulma's console to the computer of Nappa's space pod and started to skim through the log and the charts.

_Why?_ he thought to himself, _Why did you guys have to go, too?_

-x-x-x-

Trunks was bored.

Really bored.

His father had gone on a mission and his uncle had gone off to do some scouting, whatever that was. Trunks couldn't understand why he was always left behind. He had already been on one mission and thought he had done a good job with it. Naturally, his father, uncle Nappa and uncle Raditz had been with him, but still!

Trunks felt a little sting in his chest as he thought about his uncles. He was still too young to fully understand the concept of death, but he did realise that he would never see the two men again. That wasn't fair. Besides, wasn't one of them supposed to mate with uncle Tarble? He had been expecting more children to play with, what would his uncle do now? Why did the adults always break their promises? Just because he wasn't a pure-blood?

"Watch it, brat!"

Trunks looked up and snarled before he could stop himself. He was a prince, not a brat. His eyes widened as he realised who it was he had collided with.

"Oh, it's the monkey brat," another voice sounded from behind him and Trunks had to clench his fist to keep himself from lashing out, "What are you doing, wandering around by yourself?"

Trunks kept his mouth shut as Cheez and R'ceam leered at him. Even his father didn't dare to pick a fight with the Ginyuu Force. He kept his tail wrapped around his waist and didn't dare to look up again. He flinched when a large hand was placed on top of his head.

"Well, monkey brat," R'ceam looked at him, "Answer the question."

"I'm just looking around," Trunks mumbled.

"Looking for some action, are we?" Cheez asked shaking his head, "And so young. Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"What can you expect?" R'ceam ruffled Trunks' hair violently. It hurt, "When the whole family is like that..."

"Where is your uncle, anyway? Entertaining the troops, perhaps?"

Trunks shook with anger. How could they speak about his father and uncle like that? "I don't know."

"Were you left behind again?" Cheez mocked, "Poor kid, but don't worry. When you get older, I'm sure you'll be joining your father with his... work."

Trunks swallowed hard and blinked rapidly to keep the tears away. His father was a lot better than any of these scums, how dare they speak of him like that? And what had his uncle ever done? Tarble was rarely even allowed out the Saiyans' living quarters.

"Are you crying, monkey brat?" R'ceam leaned closer and Trunks couldn't take it anymore. The big man let out a surprised yelp when Trunks hit him straight in the eye with his small fist.

_What have I done?_ Trunks thought in panic and took off before the two men could get over their surprise. He moved his small legs even faster when he heard the men yell and run after him. Luckily Buter wasn't with them or Trunks would've been history. The Ginyuu Force members weren't stupid enough to start blasting off with energy inside the ship, so he might actually have a chance to survive.

-x-x-x-

Tarble leaned back on the seat of the pod, rubbing his forehead. The course of the space pods, the landings, he had gone through them all but...

"That doesn't make any sense," he said out loud. Something was going on. He would have to speak with Vegeta as soon as his brother got back, "Please, please don't let anything happen to him," Tarble prayed to the Guardians of the Universe Bulma had often spoken about.

He snapped back to attention when he heard running and yelling. Had someone noticed he was on the restricted area? Someone burst through the doors to the landing bridge and Tarble inhaled deeply, recognising the scent of his nephew. He was about to get up until he noticed the smell of panic and fear.

Trunks' tail kept swishing left and right as he kept looking for a place to hide. He had been able to shake off the two Ginyuu Force members by running through hallways too small for the towering R'ceam, but they would find him soon. He almost had a heart-attack when he heard someone calling his name.

"In here, Trunks!" Tarble signalled for the boy and as soon as Trunks jumped on his lap, he closed the pod's door, "What did you do this time?"

"The- the Ginyuu Force!" Trunks could only gasp, but it was enough. Tarble hugged the boy closer and tried to calm his own, now rapidly beating heart, "They'll find us! They had scouters!"

Tarble turned on his own scouter and sure enough could see two huge forces approaching them. They wouldn't kill him, he was still useful, but Trunks was just a child and thus replaceable. He could always plead with the men but depending on what he might be forced to do, he might lose his position as a pure Herma.

_Screw it!_ Tarble thought angrily, _Trunks is more important than that!_

Trunks was starting to panic more as the numbers in Tarble's scouter counted down. His tail was bristled and kept waving around violently, hitting the many buttons and keys of the pod. Tarble noticed this and tried to grab the appendage, "Calm down, Trunks."

But when the door to the landing bridge hissed open, the boy started trashing around. There was a beeping sound and then the lights of the pod flashed on, the motor starting up. Tarble gasped as he realised the pod's computer was still locked on the re-tracked course of Nappa's last flight.

"Trunks!"

The pod lifted off the floor and started zooming through the landing tubes towards the awaiting space. The pressure of the speed pressed Tarble and Trunks together and they both gasped as air was knocked out of their lungs. Once they were outside, the pressure returned to normal as the pod settled into the pre-programmed course.

"Wha- what's going on?" Trunks gasped, looking through the small window at the billions of stars zooming past them.

"We're re-tracing the pod's course," Tarble pushed at his nephew, "Move! I need to lock the automatic controls off."

"I- I feel kinda sleepy..."

Tarble froze as he realised what was happening. The pod was putting them into suspended animation! "Don't close your eyes, Trunks!"

"Go... good night..."

"Dammit..." Tarble could feel his own eyes closing. This was dangerous. The pod's computer was taking them towards whatever had killed Nappa and maybe Raditz! Just before falling into a dreamless sleep, Tarble thought about how Vegeta would kill him.

-x-x-x-

**Author's Notes:** If you remember, Buter was the fastest among the Ginyuu Force, thus he would've been able to easily catch Trunks. Ghurt could stop time, so he could've done it, too.

That thing about Vegeta's left side will be explained later, but it's based on the notion my friends made that Vegeta seems to always get struck on his left side. We've started to call it his weak spot.

The 'Herma' will also be explained in later chapters, although you might already guess what it basically means.

Review, if you want me to continue.


	2. Premonition of a Grand Adventure

**Author's notes:** I got two reviews, meaning that I'll continue the story. Sorry it took so long, but I try to get on a student exchange to Norway and it means lots of paperwork. Not to mention I still have lots of other school work I should be doing right now.

About this chapter; I'm using 'Dark Lord' instead of 'Maou/Daimaou' and 'god' instead of 'Kami' since I've decided not to use excessive Japanese. It's always annoying when two languages are mixed together without good reason, usually it ends up sounding clumsy. The only language difference will be that Earthlings will say 'ki' whereas non-Earthlings will call it 'energy'.

I've been wondering a long time what the god of Earth actually _does_ all day. This chapter also explains what I think he does. It's a boring job, especially for Piccolo.

Also, I've been watching a lot of Dragon Ball/Z (dubbed) and TeamFourStar's Dragon Ball Z Abridged lately, and it might show.

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Dragon Ball, Z and GT belong to Toriyama Akira.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 2 - Premonition of a Grand Adventure**

Piccolo stared intently at the orb floating in front of him. He touched gently one of the many streaks running across the glowing surface, pulling at it with the tip of his nail until it joined with another one. Somewhere far below the Lookout huge masses of water started to retract from the shore.

"I'm sorry about this."

Piccolo made a non-committal sound, concentrating on his task. He cut off one streak, bound two, slightly moved the third. The waters kept rising and falling, mimicking the movement the pull of the moon would've created.

"But I _really_ didn't have a choice," Goku continued, "I mean... They turned into these giant apes! What was I supposed to do?"

"Monkeys."

"What?"

"Monkeys, Son," Piccolo grunted, still re-connecting the streaks, "Apes don't have tails."

"Anyway," Goku ignored the comment, "Since we couldn't stop them or get close enough to cut off their tails, I thought that they would return to normal if I just got rid of the moon. You know? Like I used to."

Piccolo kept quiet. He couldn't really blame Goku for what he had done. Given the circumstances he would've done the same. The two Saiyans that had appeared about a week ago would've done a lot more damage if left in their monkey-forms. The only problem was the rebuilding that Piccolo, as the god, had to do afterwards.

Wanton destruction wasn't as fun if _you_ were stuck with the clean-up.

Finally, he was satisfied that the high and low tides would flow naturally for at least couple of hours. Until Popo returned with the materials for the new moon, he'd have to keep checking on the water every now and then. Piccolo turned and looked at his former nemesis, "You shouldn't have let them go just like that, though."

Goku couldn't meet the god's eyes as he scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah, but... I couldn't just kill them, you know."

"Yes you could."

"Well..." the warrior looked uncomfortable, "Maybe... but..."

"You've gotten soft, Son," Piccolo sighed, "These men blew up a village, kidnapped your youngest son and almost killed you and your friends. Don't tell me you let them go just because of family ties or something."

"No, it's just..." Goku muttered, "They were both in pretty bad shape. They weren't a threat anymore so killing them would've been pointless."

"Well, not like it's any of my problem," Piccolo snapped his fingers and another orb appeared. He still needed to repair the damage done to the earth's crust at Spinach Wastes, "I just hope you'll be prepared when those two come back with more allies."

They both stayed silent for a while, Piccolo concentrating on his work and Goku deep in thought.

"There'll always be someone coming after me, whether I kill them or not," Goku said suddenly, finally looking at Piccolo, "If I let them go, they'll come back for revenge. If I kill them, their families and companions will do it. I'd much rather let them live and hope that they'll be able to get rid of their vindictiveness and continue on with their lives."

"It's naive to think that people'll change that easily."

"Maybe, but _you_ did, right?" Goku grinned.

Piccolo grimaced slightly at that. After all these years he still wasn't used to the fact that his former nemesis considered him as a _friend_, "Gero didn't," he countered instead.

"He never had a chance," Goku stretched his back and looked at the blue sky, "The androids killed him before the war really started."

"Don't remind me of that," Piccolo grunted, "Thanks to those things and Cell, I'm now stuck with this boring job for the rest of my life."

"I thought you enjoyed having all that power," Goku laughed.

"What's the use of having power if you're forbidden from using it? I'll gladly change places with you, Son."

"No thanks. You complain about your job every time I come over, so it's kinda lost its appeal."

Piccolo cursed under his breath before changing the subject, "Anyway, what's wrong with _him_ lately?"

Goku looked confused at first before catching on, "Oh, you mean Gohan? Well, he's been taking the whole 'being a half-alien' thing pretty hard."

"And he calls himself the pupil of a Dark Lord," Piccolo growled, "_I'm_ not from Earth, either, and you don't see me moping around about it."

"Yeah, but Chichi _really_ wanted Gohan to be a normal boy, you know?" Goku scratched the back of his neck again, looking a little distant while talking about his late wife, "Gohan's been doing his best at that, and now he finds out his dad's an alien. I guess it kinda screwed up his self-image or something."

Piccolo remembered that strong-willed woman of Goku's. She had been on _his_ case a few times, blaming him for dragging Gohan away from his studies to 'pump muscle', as she had called it. He couldn't really blame the woman not trusting him, though, since he _had_ kidnapped Gohan as a child. That had been when he had still been consumed by the thought of killing Goku. The idea of raising Gohan to become a Dark Lord and have the boy kill his own father had sounded quite appealing at the time.

Of course, things hadn't worked out as he had planned.

First, that damn midget from the Makyo Star named Garlic Junior had appeared to try and kill the current god of Earth. Piccolo couldn't really have let that one slide, since the god's death had meant his death as well, considering how he had once been one with the deity. So, he had been forced to join forces with his nemesis, ultimately succeeding in getting rid of the Makyan.

Not soon after _that_ unpleasant affair had been over, another space-creature had chosen Earth as their target.

Slug the Namekian hadn't been as easy to defeat as Garlic Junior, mainly because of the huge army he had brought with him. Once again Piccolo had joined forces with his nemesis and his little gang, and they had defeated Slug and his army, preventing Earth from being turned into a space ship. After the battle had been over, Piccolo had confronted the god for the first time and had demanded to know about their origins and about their relation to these 'Namekians'.

Hearing that he was, in fact, an alien hadn't been much of a surprise. Piccolo had never really felt all that close to any other people on Earth. It just made sense that he _wasn't_ from Earth to begin with.

Somewhere along the way Piccolo had lost his desire to kill Son Goku, instead forming a kind of a truce/friendship with the man and a master/pupil relationship with his son. Of course Chichi had had something to say about her son's kidnapper 'getting off the hook' so easily, but as long as Gohan continued to do as she said, she was satisfied.

Then, seven years ago a former enemy of Goku's had emerged, accompanied with an army of artificial human-beings called the androids. Doctor Gero had been a scientist for the Red Ribbon Army, a faction that Goku had thought he had completely annihilated in his youth, and the man's desire for vengeance had finally taken him over the deep end. Gero's fate hadn't been all that glorious, since not too long after the first attack, the androids betrayed and killed their own creator, abandoning their original mission to kill Goku and going on a murderous rampage, wreaking havoc on Earth and its people.

Once again Goku, Piccolo and the rest had gathered to try and put a stop to the monsters, and they could've done it with minimal amount of damage if not for Gero's another creation called Cell.

Absorbing android after android, Cell had gotten stronger and had almost succeeded in killing Goku, who had sacrificed himself to save some innocent bystanders who hadn't been smart enough to run away when the creature first appeared. Goku had fallen into a deep coma, but the fight had made Cell more cautious and everything fell into a ten day stalemate.

During that time Piccolo had decided to once again join with the god of Earth, allowing him to gain far more power than he could've even imagine possessing. Still, it had been barely enough to hold Cell until Goku had been able to snap out of his coma to rejoin the fight, and for Gohan to complete his training as the Dark Lord to deal the final blow.

Unfortunately for Gohan, his mother never really _saw_ her son fighting. Somehow she had just assumed that once everything was over, Gohan would go back to his studies and grow up like a normal boy. After everything Gohan had experienced, though, becoming a normal human boy was virtually impossible.

Piccolo knew that he and Goku hadn't been really supportive at the boy's desperate struggle to please his mother, Goku being too occupied with his own attempts to meet his wife's expectations and Piccolo never really understanding why the Sons kept suppressing their warrior's nature. After Chichi's death five years ago Goku became busy at taking care of his youngest son, while 'normalcy' and 'fitting in' became almost an obsession for Gohan.

Piccolo grunted. He had never had or needed a family, so he couldn't sympathise with what his pupil was going through. He couldn't offer any words of encouragement or advice, moreover he was a firm believer of people solving their own problems. He could just wait and hope that the boy would snap out of it himself before self-destructing.

Muttering to himself, Piccolo was about to return to his task and start moving the rocks on Spinach Wastes when his ears perked up and he looked towards the sky.

"What's wrong?" Goku asked, tensing as he sensed the god's serious mood.

"Something's coming," Piccolo grunted and concentrated, "It's one of those space ship things the Saiyans used to get here."

"How far is it?" Goku tried to get a feel of the approaching ki, but his senses weren't as honed as a god's on the Lookout.

"At this rate, it'll be here tomorrow. I can't tell the landing spot, yet," Piccolo looked at Goku, "Should I warn the others?"

"How many are there?"

"Only one, but it's strong."

"Let's keep the others out of this for now," Goku kept his gaze at the sky, still trying to locate the ki, "They've just recovered and Karin said that the Senzu can't be harvested yet."

"They'll notice that something's going on once that thing lands, though," Piccolo noted.

"Can you tell me the exact landing spot as soon as you find out?" Goku asked, once again ignoring Piccolo's comment.

"So you're really going to take this thing on by yourself," the god sighed, "You've just barely healed from your injuries yourself, how do you think you'll be able to do anything?"

"It's stupid for all of us to just charge in at once. I can do some scouting and if it gets too bad, you can let the others join in."

Piccolo rubbed his temple. He knew that Goku was just itching for a fight and didn't want others to get in the way and distract him, "Fine, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Thanks," Goku smiled and walked to the edge of the Lookout, "Keep Gohan out of this, too. I've been dragging him into too many of my own battles. It's time I let that boy work out what he wants from his life."

Piccolo knew what Goku meant. After Chichi's death Goku hadn't had a reason to act like a normal human and had soon fallen back to his old habits. Like Piccolo, Goku couldn't sympathise with his son's feelings and as frustrating as it was, the father could only step back and wait, "Don't worry, I won't make Gohan intervene unless I really have to."

Goku nodded his thanks and dove down from the Lookout.

-x-x-x-

"-cle!"

Tarble let out a moan and tried to open his eyes. It was his first time waking up from suspended animation and it felt like his head was splitting open.

"Uncle!" Trunks shook him harder, not really helping in easing the pain that shot through Tarble's skull, "Wake up! We've stopped."

"We're already there?" now he was completely awake. What kind of a world had they entered into?

"No," Trunks sounded confused, "We're still in space."

"What?" Tarble pushed Trunks aside to better see through the small window of the pod. Sure enough, he couldn't see anything but stars.

"It... it's not broken, is it?" Trunks asked worriedly. They had all heard the stories, mostly from Bulma, about people adrift in space, silently waiting for death either by hunger or lack of oxygen.

Tarble punched few buttons to re-activate the pod's computer, but everything seemed alright, "It's not broken."

"Then why did we stop?"

"Because the pod was re-tracking its previous course," Tarble pulled out Bulma's compact-computer and looked at the information he had loaded previously, "Like I thought, Nappa made one stop in a place where there shouldn't be anything. Why would he have done that?"

"Maybe there was something and they blew it up?" Trunks suggested.

Tarble shook his head, "The pod's computer hasn't recorded anything about a landing. Not to mention that there should be more debris floating around."

Something wasn't right. Nappa had been the second strongest of the Saiyans and Raditz had been of the first class. What had they found in the unknown part of the universe and how had they ended up dead? Why had Nappa's space pod made a stop in the middle of nowhere?

_He must've died after the stop,_ Tarble thought, _But why do something like that if there's nothing there? How did he die _after_ the stop, anyway? Did his wounds finally get to him or something? How was he able to wake up from the suspended animation to make the stop in the first place?_

_And w__hy isn't Freeza more alert?_ Tarble suddenly realised. He was sure Freeza's mechanics had searched the pod's computer, sure they had noticed the same as him about the pod's course, _So why didn't he send anyone to investigate. Something's obviously going on! He can't be _that_ overconfident!_

"Uncle?"

_What should I do? I need to talk to Vegeta, but he's..._ Tarble's eyes widened, _Wait, I _know_ where he is! He was going to that planet that Nappa and Raditz visited last._

"Uncle!" Trunks was getting nervous as he sensed his uncle's anxiety.

Tarble looked at his nephew, "Trunks, we need to find your father."

"Okay," Trunks nodded.

"We're going to the planet where Nappa and Raditz went," Tarble explained, "And we need to find Vegeta before anything else happens, got it?"

"Yeah!" the boy's eyes shined in excitement, "And don't worry, uncle, I'll protect you."

Tarble smiled and ruffled his nephew's hair, "Thank you."

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** Okay, this ISN'T supposed to be a Chichi-bashing fic! I just don't much care for her character since she doesn't do much in the show (Bulma makes all those gadgets and 18 kicks ass) so it's hard for me to write her. Most of the chapter was actually in Piccolo's POV so you could think that it was how _he_ sees the relationship between Gohan and his mom. We'll see Gohan's side of the story in a chapter or two.

I'm not sure if it became clear in the story, but there were actually more androids than just the ones in the original story and movies. Gero created quite many of them (I mean, he himself was number 20) and in my fic all the androids were activated at the same time. Also, there was no Future Trunks to warn Goku and friends about the androids, so it all just came as a surprise to them. Must've sucked.

So, how was my 'great' explanation of the time line of my AU-world? Sorry for making the androids/Cell weaker than Freeza and his men, but I _really_ wanted 18 to be in this story, so the Android/Cell Saga had to happen before the Freeza Saga. Those two are my personal favourites, by the way. Freeza Saga because it was the first time Vegeta teamed up with the Z-warriors and the first time we saw a Super Saiyan, and Android/Cell Saga because of the androids, Future Trunks and kick-ass-Gohan.

Sorry that the chapter was short. See you in the next one titled "The Formidable Warrior, The Saiyan" (You can probably already guess what's going to happen).

Hooray for Detective Tarble and his sidekick Trunks!

I know _nothing_ about space XP


	3. The Formidable Warrior, The Saiyan

**Author's notes:** Here's the next chapter. A bit longer than the last one. Also, I think I should answer some of the questions I got:

meshalax: Goku hasn't ascended. He hasn't really gone through all that many battles, I just changed the order of them a little. We will see some Super Saiyans, but not just yet. You'll have to wait :)

DBZfan4ever: Goku and Bulma didn't know each other in this world. At first I thought about making them childhood friends like in the original story, but then I realised that if Bulma had disappeared in space, Goku would've done everything in his power to get his friend back. Also, it would've become more complicated later on in the story. You'll just have to imagine how Goku started his adventures without her. Maybe Mutenrooshi adopted him after grandpa Gohan died or something?

Also, there are no Earth Dragon Balls in this story. That's something you all should know.

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Dragon Ball, Z and GT belong to Toriyama Akira.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 3 - The Formidable Warrior, The Saiyan**

The pod landed and Vegeta stepped out. He looked around the rocky terrain, wind blowing dust into his eyes. He rose to the air slowly, trying to get used to the new planet's gravity. The pull of the planet wasn't much, he felt almost weightless.

Once in the higher altitude Vegeta activated his scouter, scanning for high power levels. The planet's gravity was ideal for the Saiyans, so whatever had defeated both Nappa and Raditz had to have been exceptionally strong. Not soon had Vegeta activated the scouter than it locked on to a high power near him.

High, but nothing impressive.

"So you're a Saiyan, huh?"

Vegeta turned towards the voice, spotting a dark-haired man standing on one of the rock formations. He slowly took in the bright orange garments and the man's tall, muscular build. When his gaze finally landed on the man's face, his eyes widened.

"Didn't your friends tell you?" Goku questioned the Saiyan, noting the sudden tension, "This planet doesn't need people like you causing any more problems. Go back to your ship and leave. I don't want to hurt you, if I don't have to."

"Ta-," Vegeta clenched his fists.

"Ta?" Goku asked, confused.

"TALES!" Vegeta roared and lunged towards the traitor, punching him into the face and kicking him into the stomach, sending the tall man flying. He let out another roar and launched a volley of energy after the man.

Goku turned in the air and was able to stop his flight before he hit the rocks. That had come completely out of nowhere. At least his so called brother and that other guy had _talked_ to him before resulting to violence. Goku looked up, only to see dozens of blasts heading his way. He dashed out of the way, the energy hitting the rock wall behind him and exploding, and was barely able to dodge the smaller man's kick. He blocked a punch and grabbed the thin wrist, pulling the man forward, headbutting him and kneeing him into the stomach before letting the man go, watching as he fell towards the ground.

Vegeta twisted his body, dropping down on his hands and knees and pushing away right before the taller man smashed the ground with a powerful kick. He powered up and dashed towards the man, who was able to block his punches but wasn't quick enough to dodge the roundhouse kick aimed at his head.

Goku swayed backwards, trying to keep his balance, only to have his legs kicked out under him and crashing to the ground. He rolled out of the way of the follow-up punch and kicked the smaller man on the head, hurriedly getting back to his feet before the Saiyan could recover from the blow, "Wha- what's your problem?" he tried to ask.

Vegeta ignored the question, dashing forward again, only to have the man disappear right in front of his eyes. Automatically he stopped his rush and had to pay for it with a kick to the back. He growled and flew up to the air, concentrating his energy into his hands.

"GALICK GUN!"

Goku was ready with his own stance and with a shout he launched his own Kamehameha-attack, the two forces colliding in the air and exploding, the impact sending both men flying.

Landing on one of the rock pillars, Vegeta tried to regain his composure. Something was wrong, Tales wasn't supposed to be this tough. Then again, it had already been years since the traitor's disappearance, so maybe he had actually bothered to _train_ during his exile. Vegeta activated his scouter once again, frowning at the numbers. Someone with _that_ level of power shouldn't be able to withstand his attacks as long as Tales had. The man didn't even seem tired.

What? Was Tales suddenly able to control his power level? Vegeta snorted. That was absurd!

"Why did you attack me?" Goku shouted across the rocky terrain, "What do you want? I told your friends to tell you lot to leave this place alone! Are you here to avenge them or something?"

"Maybe if you had let one of them live, the message would've been clearer!" Vegeta growled, "It's hard to get anything out of a _dead_ man, Tales!"

Goku's eyes widened. The two Saiyans were dead? That was weird, they hadn't been in _that_ bad shape when they had left.

"Killing another Saiyan when we're on the brink of extinction," Vegeta continued, "Your crimes towards the race are piling up, Tales! Then again, who am I to talk. I'm going to make an exception and make sure you die _right here, right now, you traitor!"_

Goku jumped out of the way as the Saiyan released another volley of energy. He was getting more and more confused. Who was Tales? Wasn't his Saiyan name supposed to be Kakarot? At least that was what his brother had called him. How many names did he have?

"Are you sure you don't have the wrong pe-," Goku's question was cut off with another punch to the face. Man, this guy was fast! He caught the other fist before it, too, collided with his face and squeezed, trying to crush the bones in the small hand. The other man arched backwards, gasping in pain and then kicking him square to the chin.

_Damn!_ Goku cursed in his head. He had forgotten how hard it was to fight against someone so much smaller than him. Even if he grabbed them, they had more room to maneuver around. The smaller man kept arching back until he was floating upside down in the air, reaching out with his free hand to blast a shot at Goku's stomach. _He's damn flexible, too,_ Goku thought as he was finally forced to let go, staggering back and holding his burnt stomach.

Vegeta flexed his fingers to check if the bones were broken. When everything seemed alright he slammed his fist into the taller man's stomach, smiling in satisfaction when he heard a pained gasp and cough, blood splattering on his shoulder. He pulled back and grabbed the unruly hair, smashing the taller man's head to his knee.

Goku gasped for air as his mouth and nose were blocked by blood. He was kicked to the chest and he crashed to the ground, hissing in pain as his ribcage made a cracking sound. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to come and challenge another Saiyan alone when he was yet to fully heal from his previous injuries, but it had been so long since he had had a _real_ challenge. It was so hard to stop in the middle of the battle.

Goku grinned suddenly and kicked the other man away before he had time to cause more damage. He scrambled to his legs and breathed deeply.

"KAIOOKEN!"

Vegeta saw a flash of red before the air was knocked out of him. Before he could recover an elbow was smashed to the back of his neck, he was kneed to the stomach and finally slammed face first to the ground. He tried to get up but a kick to his side send him skidding across the rocky surface. He was able to stop and push himself out into the air before an energy blast shot pass him.

He felt the air move and before the suddenly faster warrior could get another hit in, Vegeta turned and with another roundhouse kick was able to strike the man on his side. His leg was grabbed and Vegeta aimed a punch to the man's face, only to have his fist caught, too. With his other hand Vegeta chopped the man to the neck, but since that didn't seem to make his captor release him, Vegeta decided to use another headbutt.

Unfortunately, Goku had been thinking of the same move.

With a nauseating _crack_ their heads smashed together and both men let out a shout of pain, untangling themselves from each other and cradling their foreheads.

Vegeta could feel his brain shake around in his skull and he had to land to make the world stop spinning. He sniffed when something ran down his nose. He wiped his face and stared at his gloved hand. The white material had been stained red.

Blood.

_His_ blood.

Slowly Vegeta straightened himself and turned to look at the other man, who seemed to also have recovered from their collision. The man wiped blood from his face and looked back at him, eyes widening with confusion as he met the Saiyan prince's gaze.

Vegeta snapped.

-x-x-x-

Gohan could feel his father's ki flare up again. He rubbed his neck when two enormous forces clashed, causing an electric tingling run down his back. He looked around but naturally no one else had noticed anything, his classmates continuing with their studying or chattering, completely unaware of the fight that was going.

"Gohan?"

"Huh?" Gohan was startled out of his thoughts when a blond haired girl peered at him worriedly, "Sorry, what is it, Erase?"

"Are you alright? You've been spacing out."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Gohan smiled, "Just... a little tired."

"Is it your arm?" a dark-haired girl joined their conversation, leaning over her desk, "Should you go see the school nurse?"

"I'm okay, Videl, really," Gohan tried to assure the girls, slightly lifting his right arm that was in cast and sling, "It's nothing major, I just didn't get enough sleep last night, I guess."

"It's such a bummer that you had that car accident, especially since it's so close to the Sports Day," Erase sighed.

"Yeah, bummer," Gohan laughed nervously. Car accident, right... More like his supposed uncle first trying to rip his arm off and then completely crushing it under his feet. Unfortunately there hadn't been any Senzu beans left and the new batch would take a couple more days to grow, so he had been forced to deal with the injuries the traditional way.

Gohan jumped when the two energies he had unconsciously been following collided again. He was a bit worried, his father had been worse off than he after the battle against the Saiyans, and now he could sense the man fighting against something that was at least ten times stronger. Well, his father could've managed better against the Saiyans if Gohan and his brother hadn't been there.

When the two men called Nappa and Raditz had kidnapped Goten, Gohan had insisted on helping his father to get his brother back. Goku had been reluctant to let his eldest son to join the fight, considering Gohan hadn't been able to properly keep up with his training ever since he started high school, but the man had finally allowed it, trusting that Gohan would be of some help.

Gohan let out a groan and laid his head on his desk, remembering how much of 'help' he had been. The fight had been a complete disaster. He hadn't realised how out of touch he was with his fighting skills. Goten had tried to help his brother and father, too, but since the boy had no experience of a _real_ battle, he had been more in a way. Most of the time Goku had just been shielding his sons, getting seriously injured in the process. In the end Kuririn, Tenshinhan and Yamcha had also joined up and together they had been able to defeat the Saiyans and chase them away.

Gohan had felt so ashamed when he had watched his father laying on the hospital bed. He had been completely useless. Even the normally cheerful Goten had sulked for a few days, until their father had been able to convince his sons that he was okay. More than his father's Gohan had been afraid of his master's rebuke, but Piccolo hadn't contacted him or said anything.

Yet.

Actually, Gohan had been desperately trying to contact the god. He wanted to know what was going on with his father, but for some reason Piccolo couldn't either hear his calls or was ignoring him. Gohan really hoped it was the former, he didn't know what he'd do if his father and master thought that he wasn't dependable anymore.

"Just because the teacher isn't here doesn't mean you can skip on your school work, Shapner," Videl suddenly scolded the blond boy sitting next to her.

"Hey, it's self-study. The teachers _expect_ us to just laze around and hastily do the work a day before it has to be turned in," the boy commented, bopping his head along the music he was listening with his walkman.

Videl sighed, "I swear, you can be such a jock sometimes. Well, not my fault if your grades drop," she turned and gave her other friends a smile, "At least Gohan's studying properly, even when his injured."

Gohan smiled back and looked over the answers Erase had written. Since he couldn't use his writing hand she was helping him with his work, actually copying his answers at the same time but hey, it was a fair trade (according to her, anyway). Suddenly he jumped when there was a big drop in his father's ki, before it flared back up to normal. He could hear Shapner let out a low whistle.

"There are some big explosions happening again," he commented.

"Is it the news?" Videl asked, "Where this time?"

"Some place called Gizard Wasteland," there were other students leaning in to hear their conversation now. It hadn't been _that_ long since the Android Wars, after all, "It's in the western district, I think."

"Weren't there explosions at the Spinach Wastes some time back?" Erase pondered, "I wonder what this means."

The other students were talking now, whispering heatedly amongst themselves.

"You think it's the androids again?"

"No way! Weren't they all dead?"

"Nobody knows what happened to them. They just disappeared."

"What if it's that monster?"

"Don't talk like that! Videl's dad killed it, remember?"

_Screw this,_ Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated. He let his ki flare up to it's maximum for just a second and called out with his mind, _"PICCOLO!"_

To the outside it was just a sudden gust of wind that blew some of the papers on the students' desks away, and some more sensitive people rubbed the backs of their necks, looking around in confusion. Gohan waited. He was afraid the god would ignore him again, but finally he could feel something touch his mind.

"_What?"_ Piccolo's voice sounded in Gohan's head and the boy sighed in relief.

"_I can feel my father and someone else's ki in the western district. What's going on over there?"_

"_Nothing you need to worry about. Your father can handle it."_

"_Don't lie to me,"_ Gohan sighed,_ "Father still isn't fully recovered from his injuries and now his ki started to act up suddenly. He's in trouble, isn't he?"_

The god was silent for a moment, _"Kuririn is already on his way there."_

"_Where is he?"_

"_He should arrive there short-"_

"_WHERE IS HE?"_

"_..."_

"_Piccolo?"_

"_He just left the Karin Tower."_

Gohan cursed and stood up, _"I can fly there faster."_

"_No need. I've also informed Yamcha and Tenshinhan. They're farther away, though, but on their way, none the less."_

Gohan stopped. Yamcha and Tenshinhan? Why hadn't Piccolo contacted him first? Why was he the last one to know? Gohan gritted his teeth, he didn't want to think about what this meant,_ "I'm going there, too!"_

"_No, Gohan,"_ Piccolo said sternly,_ "You stay where you are. The others can take care of this by themselves."_

"_But-"_

"_Gohan! Listen, you-,"_ Piccolo was suddenly silent and Gohan could feel his mind wander off from their link,_ "Dammit... How did I miss that?"_

"_What is it?"_

"_Nothing,"_ Piccolo said, but after Gohan kept insisting, he finally gave in, _"There's a Saiyan ship coming towards the Earth and it'll be here shortly."_

"_Is it strong?"_ Gohan asked. They really didn't need any more of those guys, especially now that his father was in trouble.

"_I can sense two ki, but both are considerably weaker than the one Son is fighting now. I was too engrossed with watching the battle and they slipped pass me."_

"_Where are they landing?"_

"_Gohan, I told you to-"_

"_WHERE?"_ Gohan was starting to panic. Why was his master trying to keep him out of this so badly?

Once again, Piccolo was silent before caving in, _"They'll land somewhere near Fry-Pan Mountain."_

"_That's not far from where my father is! I'm going there now!"_ before the god could respond, Gohan closed the link and looked at Videl and Erase, "Sorry, I think I'll go see the school nurse, after all," and he ran out of the classroom.

-x-x-x-

"We're here, uncle!" Trunks shouted excitedly, tail swishing around. Tarble opened the pod's hatch and the boy jumped out, immediately rising to the air and looking at his surroundings. Tarble was much slower at climbing out of the pod and once he did, he felt like crawling back in.

It was so _vast!_

He leaned against the pod and looked around, eyes wide and breathing fast. He wasn't used to this, there were too many sounds and smells, too much open space. Something kept brushing against his face and it took a while for Tarble to realise that it was the wind. He kept rubbing his face, not used to the strange feeling.

"Look, uncle!" Trunks suddenly yelled, "There's almost no gravity on this planet!" the boy dashed around, laughing and obviously enjoying himself.

Tarble took few steps forward. Trunks was right, he did feel kinda weightless. Even though he was a Herma, Vegeta had made him go through the basic battle training, including some gravity room training. Not to mention that the gravity on Freeza's ship was slightly stronger, something that had taken Bulma a while to get used to.

"Are you okay?" Trunks landed next his uncle, looking at him worriedly.

"I... I'll be fine," Tarble lied and clicked on his scouter. Immediately it picked up two huge powers somewhere not too far from where they had landed, "That might be brother," Tarble muttered, "But the other power keeps changing. Is there a battle or something?"

Trunks peered up at his uncle and made up his mind. He snatched the scouter from Tarble's face and flew up, positioning it on his own face and activating it again.

"Trunks! What are you doing?"

"I'll go get father," Trunks announced, trying to read the numbers on the scouter's screen, "I'll find him and if there's a battle, I'll help him fight. You wait here, uncle, we'll be back soon."

"Trunks!" Tarble flew up after his nephew, swaying a little in the strong wind. The boy wasn't seriously thinking about leaving him here all alone, was he? "Stop it, Trunks! Give me back the scouter."

"Don't worry, uncle," Trunks smiled, full of confidence, "I'm strong, I'll be alright! See ya!" and he flew off.

"TRUNKS!" Tarble tried to fly after his nephew, but the boy was more accustomed to windy conditions than he was. Tarble looked around, his breathing speeding up again now that he was in the air. He stared at the spot that was disappearing fast and suddenly realised something.

"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!"

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** Haha! Didn't expect the battling to start so soon, did you? No, seriously, I was re-watching DBZ and noticed how much _staring_ there was. None of that crap in my story! No, the action starts immediately! How was the fight scene, anyway? I'm starting to enjoy writing them.

Gizard Wasteland and Spinach Wastes are place names taken from the DS game "Attack of the Saiyans". DRAGON BALL RPG! WHOO! Also, the fighting styles will be based on the Dragon Ball games, too, especially on Burst Limit and Raging Blast 2 that I own. Vegeta really _has_ a beautiful fighting style in RB2 (in my opinion). Somehow he just seems more flexible than the other male characters.

Tarble's reaction is based on personal experiences. I have a serious case of agoraphobia (fear of open places). I come from a region where there are lots of trees and hills, so I'm not used to flat and open areas. The first time I went to South-Sweden, I had a serious panic attack. Why must there be so many fields? Also, Tarble's _never been outside of Freeza's ship before_ in my story, so you'd think that it would affect him somewhat.

If you're wondering how Goku knows Kaiooken if he never died and went to Kaioo's place (since there are no Dragon Balls, he couldn't be brought back to life), it'll be explained later. _Everything_ will be explained later, it seems XD

Next chapter: Scampering Battle!


	4. Scampering Battle!

**Author's notes:** I had some problems with my account and couldn't post the third chapter when it was done. That's why the fourth chapter is so early, don't get used to it!

Also, I changed the genre from Adventure/Romance to Adventure/Drama 'cause I realised that there won't really be much romance. We'll get there! It'll just take some time. I _hate_ it when relationships develop too fast in stories.

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Dragon Ball, Z and GT belong to Toriyama Akira.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 4 – Scampering Battle!**

A kick to the chin send Goku flying. He somersaulted back to his feet and blocked another one of the smaller man's kicks, grabbing the leg and whirling the man around before smashing him against a rock pillar. The pillar crumbled, like so many others around them. Goku knew that he had to end this fast. The Kaiooken helped him to ignore the pain for now, but he wasn't sure how long it would take before his body decided to give out.

Unfortunately, the Saiyan seemed to be in a state where he couldn't feel much pain, either. The guy had gone completely berserk, charging at him without much of a tactic, not seemingly even bothering to avoid Goku's counter attacks. A sudden punch to the stomach had Goku bending over, and it was followed by another and another. Goku wrapped his arms around the other's and head-butted the smaller man, lifting him up and slamming him to the ground while the other was dazed.

Goku breathed heavily while he tried to uphold the Kaiooken. For a while now he had been constantly flaring in and out of it, forcing himself to concentrate before the pain hit in. His legs were suddenly swiped from under him and a fist collided with his face. Through his own blood Goku could see the Saiyan snarl at him while collecting energy for a close-range blast. He grabbed the other's shoulders and threw him off, jumping up and to the air.

He wasn't fast enough, though, and he let out a howl when a surge of energy burned through his right side. A roundhouse kick sent him back to the ground, but Goku turned around in time to shakily land on his feet. He concentrated his ki and took the familiar stance.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

Vegeta howled when he couldn't quite shield from the blast, the energy actually burning through his armor. Finally he was able to get out of the stream, gather some energy into his hand and throw it at his opponent. The man jumped out of the way but Vegeta was ready, rushing him as soon as he was in the air and knocking him back down, landing on his chest, almost crushing the man's ribcage.

He was shoved off and the taller man rolled on top of him, hitting him in the face a few times before Vegeta was able to get his legs against the man's stomach and kick him off. He spat out blood while clambering to his feet and rushing his opponent again.

Goku blocked the kicks and punches and knocked the smaller man down, jumping back and collecting his ki instead of trying to get within the grabbing distance again. The blast went through the already broken armor and the Saiyan screamed when his skin and flesh was burned. Goku gritted his teeth, forcing himself to keep the blast non-lethal. He watched as the smaller man rolled sideways, holding his badly damaged stomach.

"Just give up alr-," Vegeta tackled the guy before he could continue. They rolled around the ground before separating, Vegeta jumping to the air and shooting another blast of energy at the man.

Goku dodged the blast and was this time ready when the Saiyan charged at him, blocking the punches and grabbing the small wrists. He pulled them both to the air and wrapped his longer legs around the other's, staring hard at the glaring eyes, "Ready to give u-?" something smacked against his face.

It was the Saiyan's tail.

The appendage kept slashing at his face and arms, not really strong enough to cause real damage but annoying, none the less. Goku growled and let go of the other man to catch the furry tail, squeezing it hard. The Saiyan stopped suddenly, his eyes widening in shock.

Goku looked at the man in surprise. Maybe the tail was his weak spot?

"You..." Vegeta growled, electric tingling running up and down his body.

Goku gulped when he could feel the other man's power rising. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Energy was released all over the Saiyan's body in a sudden burst, the power sending Goku flying and hitting a rocky wall, crumbling down with it. He gasped when his concentration was broken, pain invading his beaten body before he was able to force himself back to Kaiooken. Breathing hard Goku looked up, gasping when he saw the huge amount of energy the other man had been gathering.

Vegeta growled when he looked at the shocked eyes of the taller man. How dare he! How dare the third-class traitor touch _his_ tail! He would kill him! He would kill the fucker and if the fucking planet went along with him, so be it!

With a roar Vegeta let the energy go.

-x-x-x-

Gohan stopped when he could feel the immense pressure hit him. What was this power? The two other Saiyans he had fought hadn't been anywhere _near_ this level. His father wouldn't have a chance against something like this in his current state.

Gohan looked down. He was already at the Fry-Pan Mountain, but the ki emanating from his father's fight made it hard to sense anything else. He could either waste time trying to locate the other two powers, or he could go help his father.

Making up his mind Gohan sped up.

-x-x-x-

Tarble hated being without his scouter.

It made him to unconsciously rely on his Herma instincts, and that always made him jumpy. Even now his skin was tingling and his tail was lashing around wildly when he could sense, well, _something._

Tarble groaned in frustration. He had tried to go after Trunks, but the boy had been too fast. Now he had no idea where he himself was or where he should go. He kept turning around in the air, trying to pick up a familiar scent, but the wind made it impossible. He was fully aware of how stupid it was to stay out in the open like this, but without his scouter he didn't want to risk running into some unknown creatures that could be hiding down in the forest. At least up here he could fly away much faster.

Tarble's tail bristled and his skin went into goosebumps. His ears were thrumming and he kept rubbing his face because of the unfamiliar feeling the wind was causing. He hated this. He felt suffocated and alone and that _something_ was still around.

"Hey, you!"

Tarble tensed and looked up, eyes widening in panic when something flew towards him.

Gohan looked at the Saiyan, confused. He was sure the person was a Saiyan, he had the same armor and tail, but this one was different. Gohan had thought all the Saiyans were big and bulky, but this person was small and lithe, _Is he a kid? That Nappa guy __**did**__ say that they used to send children on missions, too._

Gohan flew closer when the other didn't move, his nose picking up a scent of fear, _He's terrified!_ Gohan realised, noticing the other's shaking, "Hey, umm..." _This is really weird,_ "Uh, are you alright?"

The Saiyan stretched out his hand.

Gohan blinked and an electric current ran all over his body. He gasped at the sudden pain, body convulsing and his ki flow disrupted. He was able to catch himself before he hit the ground, looking up but not seeing the Saiyan anywhere.

_Damn!_ he cursed in his head, _It's pretty bad when even the kids can get a jump on me like that._

-x-x-x-

_Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_ Tarble kept screaming at himself as he sped off. That had been a stupid move, he _really_ shouldn't be picking a fight like that, but he had panicked.

That guy was strong! Even without a scouter he could sense that the guy was strong!

Where was his brother? Where was Trunks? He couldn't deal with all this himself.

Suddenly Tarble stopped when he could pick up a faint scent.

Blood.

His _brother's_ blood.

Tarble stopped in mid-air and inhaled deeply. He sniffed around, trying to pinpoint the scent's location. The wind was blowing from his left, from the direction where that _something_ was. Maybe it was his brother he had been sensing all this time?

But his brother was bleeding.

Tarble started to speed up towards that _something._ His brother was probably fighting, he wasn't sure if he would be off any help, but at least he wouldn't be alone anymore.

-x-x-x-

Goku had to think fast.

He quickly powered up to a five times Kaiooken, praying that his body would be able to bear with it just a bit longer.

"KA-ME-HA-ME-!" Goku winced in pain when his muscles strained. He was at his limit.

"DIE, TRAITOR!" Vegeta roared.

"HA-!"

Vegeta's eyes widened. How the hell was the third-class able to block his full-power attack? In fact, he was even pushing his it back! This couldn't be! He was _an elite!_ He couldn't be losing to some third-class trash! He couldn't be losing to _TALES!_

Vegeta screamed when the blast hit him, burning through his armor and skin. He needed to get away! Get away from the stream before he was burned alive!

Gathering the last bit of his strength Vegeta jumped out of the stream, but wasn't able to stay airborne anymore. He crashed to the ground, spitting out blood.

Goku heaved heavily. He kept his eyes on the fallen Saiyan, hoping that the man would stay down permanently for now. He let out a groan when the man started to push himself back to his feet. Goku gritted his teeth when something started to burn deep inside his chest. This was bad. There was too much blood, he wouldn't be able to keep himself in check much longer.

Vegeta stared at the taller man. This was getting dangerous. He needed to seriously start thinking about his actions and not just rush in head first. He was convinced now, though. There was no doubt that this man, that Tales, had killed Nappa and Raditz. Vegeta gritted his teeth, trying to keep his anger in check. He didn't have much energy left, he had to make this last one count.

The Saiyan was rushing at him again. Goku assumed his stance, ready to block the attack.

And his body decided that enough was enough.

His bones snapped. His muscles tore. Goku couldn't even let out a scream as a broken rib pierced through his lung, flooding his mouth and nose with blood. He was only somewhat aware of a kick to the head before he fell down on his back, the smaller man standing on his chest, staring down at him.

Vegeta wasn't sure of what had happened. Suddenly the crimson glow around Tales' body had disappeared and the man looked to be in great pain. Whatever this was, Vegeta wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. He smiled cruelly as he looked down at his opponent.

Then Vegeta _really_ looked at his opponent.

That couldn't be right. Tales was taller than this, had more muscle and darker skin. This man didn't even have _a tail!_ Vegeta's eyes widened in realisation, "You're not Tales!"

Goku grabbed the smaller man's leg and twisted.

Vegeta let out a scream when his ankle broke.

He fell down, nursing his injured leg. Through his squinted eyes he saw the other man slowly rise to his feet, lifting his hand, a small amount of energy starting to gather there. How weird. Were the man's eyes teal-coloured this entire time?

A sudden kick to the head sent the man flying, crashing to the ground not too far from him. Vegeta looked up in surprise. His brother stood there, fists clenched and growling at the unknown man, "Wha-," Vegeta pushed himself up, winching when he accidentally put weight on his broken ankle, "What are you doing here, Tarble!"

Tarble looked at his brother, gasping when he noticed the older prince's injuries, "Brother! Are you al-!"

A low growl interrupted him. The princes looked back, noticing the tall man rising to his feet again. His body was covered with blood and his bones were obviously broken, but still the man was charging towards them, eyes blazing with rage. Without thinking Tarble stood between his brother and the man, bracing himself for the oncoming pain.

Goku caught a glimpse of the dark, panicked eyes and something lurched inside him. He faltered, falling on top of the two Saiyans, fist smashing deep into the rocky ground instead of the newcomer's face. He looked into the wide eyes and couldn't move.

It wasn't like he couldn't move because his body hurt or anything. He had just _completely_ lost his will to fight.

Somewhere back in his mind Goku was aware that he was probably crushing the two smaller men, but he couldn't bring himself to get up. He just laid there, staring at the eyes that were now brightening with something like recognition.

Then there was a hand on his face.

_Oh, right. The other guy's still here,_ Goku thought as electricity ran through his body and he was kicked back.

Vegeta jumped after the man, being careful of his injured leg. He was about to strike when something crashed to his back and he was squashed to the ground.

"Father!" Gohan looked around, not lifting himself from on top of the Saiyan he had just crushed, "Are you alright!" a kick to the head sent him flying.

"Brother! Get up!" Tarble tried to pull his brother to his feet, glancing at the young man he had just kicked.

Gohan tried to attack the two Saiyans, but the smaller one positioned himself as a shield and like with his father, Gohan felt something lurch in his stomach as he looked into the dark eyes, faltering long enough for the other to punch him.

"TARBLE!"

The smaller of the two Saiyans suddenly flew up and Gohan was left staring at the other whose body pulsed with energy, _Oh, crap!_ Gohan thought and quickly located his father, throwing himself on top of him to shield the older man from the oncoming attack.

With a roar the Saiyan seemed to almost detonate, energy flowing from his body, crushing everything around him. The flying debris hit Gohan's back, cutting deep through his school clothes. When it was finally silent Gohan opened his eyes slowly, not seeing the Saiyans anymore, but feeling their ki flying somewhere towards east.

He looked down at his father, wincing when his right arm stung. He had probably hurt it again, "Are you alright, father?"

Of course he wasn't alright. Goku's body was bleeding and crushed and something was poking through the flesh on his side. Gohan grimaced when he realised that it was a rib bone. He was surprised, though, when his father tried to get up.

"Stop it, father!" Gohan tried to push the man back down, "You need to lie down! You might die if you move around too much."

A low growl was his answer and Gohan realised that his father was still in a full fighting mode. Goku's eyes blazed and he snarled while trying to get past his son. Gohan wrestled with his father, trying to keep the older man down.

"DAD!" he growled, his own anger rising at the older man's stubbornness.

Huh? Did his father's hair just flash golden?

"GOHAN!"

Gohan looked up, recognising the small fighter, "KURIRIN!" he yelled, "Help me! Father's going to die at this rate!"

The bald fighter landed next to his friend and pushed something into his mouth, "Here, Goku! Eat it!"

Goku automatically swallowed the small bean and blinked when his body recovered, immediately calming down, "Huh? What?"

"Father," Gohan sighed in relief.

"Gohan?" Goku looked confused at his son's presence, "What did I..."

"You had one of your episodes," Gohan informed, nursing his arm that had started to throb painfully after the struggle.

"Here," Kuririn offered him a Senzu, "Two of them were ripe early. I think half of it should be enough to heal your arm."

Gohan thanked the older fighter and bit half of the bean, stuffing the other half into his pocket. He broke off the cast in his arm and flexed it, happy that the bone had really healed.

"What happened to the Saiyans?" Goku asked.

"They ran away," Gohan said, getting up, "They're heading east."

"Should we go after them?" Kuririn asked.

"Yeah," Goku stood up, "One of them was pretty homicidal. I better take care of it before something happens."

"Are you sure you're alright, father?" Gohan questioned. He was worried about his father's weird rage-fits.

Goku looked at his son and turned away, "Go back to school, Gohan."

"Eh?"

"You weren't even supposed to be here," he frowned, "Damn Piccolo... I told him I'd be able to take care of this myself."

"Take care... You almost died just now!" Gohan yelled. What was his father talking about? Was _he_ the reason why Piccolo hadn't contacted him about the Saiyans? "What's this all about, father! Why wasn't I informed about the fight!"

"Where are Yamcha and Tenshinhan?" Goku asked Kuririn.

"Eh? Ah, they were pretty far away but they're coming. I was the closest so..." Kuririn looked at Gohan, scratching the back of his neck.

"Piccolo will inform them about our position," Goku muttered, "Let's go."

"Father!" Gohan stepped in front of the older man and glared at him, "Why are you ignoring me?"

"I told you to go back to school," Goku said sternly, "This has nothing to do with you!"

"My father almost gets killed and you're saying it has nothing to do with me!" Gohan tried to squelch the fear rising inside him. He didn't want to, but he needed to know...

"I can do this without you, Gohan!" Goku growled.

_So that's it..._

Goku gritted his teeth, not looking at the crushed look on his son's face. This was for the best. His sons had suffered enough because of him already, "Let's go, Kuririn!" he flew off, following the Saiyans' ki.

Kuririn looked after Goku and then back at Gohan. It was rare to see Goku snap at his sons like that, especially at Gohan. He wondered if he should say something, but it wasn't really his place to intervene. With one last look at Gohan, he sped off after Goku.

Gohan had known it all along.

Of course, he hadn't trained for almost seven years, naturally his father had to think that he had become useless.

It was his own fault, he knew. He had tried to ignore that part of himself. Had tried to completely immerse himself with his studies. Had tried to achieve something that he _thought_ had been his mother's last wish.

To be a normal boy and have a normal life.

And after seven years of trying, what did he have? He still felt like an outsider among his schoolmates and he was becoming estranged from his father. He couldn't socialise with people in fear that he wouldn't be able to keep his power in check, but on the other hand he _needed_ that power to help his family.

Gohan clenched his fists, powered up and sped after his father and Kuririn. For now he would ignore his father's orders and join the hunt.

After all, if he lost his family, what else did he have left?

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** Sorry for making Gohan such an angst kid, but I couldn't resist exploiting that part of him that struggles between humanity and Saiyan. Yeah, the Sons are having serious family problems in my fic right now, but don't worry, they will be solved soon before they get in the way of _more action!_ Gohan's also going to kick major ass later, I promise!

That attack Tarble used against Gohan is actually Galick Burst that both he and Vegeta can do in RB2. It's where they outstretch their hand, palm up, and let this current of electricity-energy-thingy blast the opponent. It doesn't have much of a range and isn't all that powerful, it's meant more to temporarily stun the enemy.

What's going on with Goku? Well, remember that a Super Saiyan is born from rage? At least that's what Future Gohan said.

Oh, and Kuririn's still bald 'cause he stopped shaving _after_ he got together with 18. They're not together yet in my story.

Bah, I've played RB2 through with my favourite characters (aka the Saiyans) and now I have to start playing with the characters I don't like all that much... Damn...

Next chapter: Running Across the Land, meaning, TRUNKS AND GOTEN (what, am I the only one who thinks that's their song?)

Review, please? Makes me motivated to write when I know there are actually people reading this.


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